shipping volume and battle tactics

[Marine1775]

Just a question for any sailor or mariner. This refers to all harpoon series. I'm guessing that most
bodies of water must have a heavy body of ship traffic. In the real world, how much recon work would
have to be done to minimize collateral damage? Would commercial traffic be warned to stay out of the war zone?
thanks a lot.

[severe7]

I'm by no measure an expert, but during the Falklands war Britain declared a Maritime Exclusion Zone of 200 nmi around the islands.
If you want to read more I found this for you, hope it helps.

[Feltan]

Marine1775,

While I too am no expert, you'd be surprised at what is available to the public, for free, concerning maritime traffic. Check out: https://www.marinetraffic.com/en/

On that site, which is one of many, you can get real-time updates of merchant vessel locations worldwide. If you drill down, you can get their maritime call-sign.

Also, nations publish "Notice to Mariners" that warn of navigation and weather hazards.

I would strongly suspect that in the case of an established localized conflict, merchant vessels in the area know the risk they are taking and would (hopefully) have ample time to make alternate arrangements. Of course, it would be inevitable that in a no-notice situation that some would be in harms way.

Regards,
Feltan